Native Land is a 1942 docudrama film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand .
106-619: A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments (influenced by the cinematic works of Sergei Eisenstein and Aleksandr Dovzhenko ), the independently produced film depicted the struggle of trade unions against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee 's investigation of the repression of labor organizing. Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist. A restored version of
212-413: A "linkage" of related images—as Kuleshov maintained. Eisenstein felt the "collision" of shots could be used to manipulate the emotions of the audience and create film metaphors. He believed that an idea should be derived from the juxtaposition of two independent shots, bringing an element of collage into film. He developed what he called "methods of montage": With his cross-disciplinary approach, he defined
318-433: A banker with no prior experience in motion picture work, who was to serve as production supervisor. At their departure Eisenstein had not yet determined a direction or subject for his film, and only several months later produced a brief outline of a six-part film; this, he promised, would be developed, in one form or another, into a final plan he would settle on for his project. The title for the project, ¡Que viva México! ,
424-505: A city of many languages. Initially most of its residents spoke Ruthenian (which later developed into modern Belarusian ). However, after 1569 the official language was Polish . In the 19th-century Russian became the official language and by the end of that century it had become the language of administration, schools and newspapers. The Belarusian national revival increased interest in the Belarusian language – its use has grown since
530-626: A completed script; professional actors to play the roles; and an assistant director, Dmitri Vasilyev , to expedite shooting. The result was a film critically well received by both the Soviets and in the West, which won him the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize . It was an allegory and stern warning against the massing forces of Nazi Germany, well played and well made. The script had Nevsky utter
636-409: A criminal offence, Eisenstein married filmmaker and screenwriter Pera Atasheva (born Pearl Moiseyevna Fogelman; 1900 – 24 September 1965). Aleksandrov married Orlova during that same year. Eisenstein confessed his asexuality to his close friend Marie Seton : "Those who say that I am homosexual are wrong. I have never noticed and do not notice this. If I was homosexual I would say so, directly. But
742-453: A film about the country. As a result of their discussions with Eisenstein and his colleagues, Sinclair, his wife Mary , and three other investors organized as the "Mexican Film Trust" to contract the three Russians to make a film about Mexico of Eisenstein's design. On 24 November 1930, Eisenstein signed a contract with the Trust "upon the basis of his desire to be free to direct the making of
848-590: A line producer, for the film's problems. Eisenstein hoped to pressure the Sinclairs to insinuate themselves between him and Stalin, so Eisenstein could finish the film in his own way. Unable to raise further funds, and under pressure from both the Soviet government and the majority of the Trust, Sinclair shut down production and ordered Kimbrough to return to the United States with the remaining film footage and
954-630: A month's stay at the U.S.-Mexico border outside Laredo, Texas , a 30-day "pass" to get from Texas to New York and thence depart for Moscow, while Kimbrough returned to Los Angeles with the remaining film. Eisenstein toured the American South instead of going directly to New York. In mid-1932, the Sinclairs were able to secure the services of Sol Lesser , who had just opened his distribution office in New York, Principal Distributing Corporation . Lesser agreed to supervise post-production work on
1060-597: A number of traditional Russian proverbs , verbally rooting his fight against the Germanic invaders in Russian traditions. This was started, completed, and placed in distribution all within the year 1938, and represented Eisenstein's first film in nearly a decade and his first sound film. Eisenstein returned to teaching, and was assigned to direct Richard Wagner 's Die Walküre at the Bolshoi Theatre . After
1166-724: A picture according to his own ideas of what a Mexican picture should be, and in full faith in Eisenstein's artistic integrity." The contract stipulated that the film would be "non-political", that immediately available funding came from Mary Sinclair in an amount of "not less than Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars", that the shooting schedule amounted to "a period of from three to four months", and most importantly that: "Eisenstein furthermore agrees that all pictures made or directed by him in Mexico, all negative film and positive prints, and all story and ideas embodied in said Mexican picture, will be
SECTION 10
#17327730796511272-568: A revolutionary working-class aesthetic. His productions there were entitled Gas Masks , Listen Moscow , and Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man . He worked as a designer for Vsevolod Meyerhold . Eisenstein began his career as a theorist in 1923, by writing "The Montage of Attractions" for art journal LEF . His first film, Glumov's Diary (for the theatre production Wise Man ), was also made in that same year with Dziga Vertov hired initially as an instructor. Strike (1925)
1378-839: A strident anti-communist, mounted a public campaign against Eisenstein. On October 23, 1930, by "mutual consent", Paramount and Eisenstein declared their contract null and void, and the Eisenstein party were treated to return tickets to Moscow at Paramount's expense. Eisenstein was faced with being seen a failure in the USSR. The Soviet film industry was solving the sound-film issue without him; in addition, his films, techniques and theories, such as his formalist film theory , were becoming increasingly attacked as "ideological failures". Many of his theoretical articles from this period, such as Eisenstein on Disney , have surfaced decades later. Eisenstein and his entourage spent considerable time with Charlie Chaplin , who recommended that Eisenstein meet with
1484-514: A sympathetic benefactor, the American socialist author Upton Sinclair . Sinclair's works had been accepted by and were widely read in the USSR, and were known to Eisenstein. The two admired each other, and between the end of October 1930 and Thanksgiving of that year, Sinclair had secured an extension of Eisenstein's absences from the USSR, and permission for him to travel to Mexico. Eisenstein had long been fascinated by Mexico and had wanted to make
1590-657: A toll on his mental health. He spent some time in a mental hospital in Kislovodsk in July 1933, ostensibly a result of depression born of his final acceptance that he would never be allowed to edit the Mexican footage. He was subsequently assigned a teaching position at the State Institute of Cinematography where he had taught earlier, and in 1933 and 1934 was in charge of writing the curriculum. In 1935, Eisenstein
1696-479: Is 220 metres (720 ft). The physical geography of Minsk was shaped over the two most recent ice ages . The Svislach River , which flows across the city from the northwest to the southeast, is in the urstromtal , an ancient river valley formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last Ice Age. There are six smaller rivers within the city limits, all part of the Black Sea basin. Minsk
1802-502: Is in the area of mixed forests typical of most of Belarus. Pinewood and mixed forests border the edge of the city, especially in the north and east. Some of the forests were preserved as parks (for instance, the Chelyuskinites Park ) as the city grew. The city was initially built on the hills, which allowed for defensive fortifications, and the western parts of the city are the most hilly. In 5 km (3.1 mi) from
1908-573: Is open to visitors. Minsk has the highest crime rate in Belarus ;– 193.5 crimes per 10,000 citizens. 20–25% of all serious crimes in Belarus, 55% of bribes and 67% of mobile phone thefts are committed in Minsk. However, attorney general Grigory Vasilevich stated that the homicide rate in Minsk in 2008 was "relatively fine". The crime rate grew significantly in 2009 and 2010: for example,
2014-520: Is the capital and largest city of Belarus , located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region and Minsk District . As of 2024, it has a population of about two million, making Minsk the 11th-most populous city in Europe . Minsk is one of the administrative capitals of
2120-491: Is unstable and tends to change relatively often. The average January temperature is −4.2 °C (24.4 °F), while the average July temperature is 19.1 °C (66.4 °F). The lowest temperature was recorded on 17 January 1940, at −39.1 °C (−38 °F) and the warmest on 8 August 2015 at 35.8 °C (96 °F). Fog is frequent, especially in the autumn and spring. Minsk receives 686 millimetres (27.0 in) of precipitation annually, of which one-third falls during
2226-527: The 2010 presidential election were imprisoned in the KGB jail along with other prominent politicians and civil activists. Ales Michalevic , who was kept in this jail, accused the KGB of using torture. On 15 November 2020, more than 1,000 protesters were arrested during an anti-government protest. Protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk, following the death of an opposition activist, Roman Bondarenko. The activist died after allegedly being beaten up by
SECTION 20
#17327730796512332-742: The Caucasus countries – Armenians , Azerbaijanis and Georgians each numbering about 2,000 to 5,000. They began migrating to Minsk in the 1970s, and more immigrants have joined them since. Many work in the retail trade in open-air markets. A small but prominent Arab community has developed in Minsk, primarily represented by recent economic immigrants from Syria , Lebanon , Egypt , Algeria , etc. (In many cases, they are graduates of Minsk universities who decide to settle in Belarus and bring over their families). A small community of Romani , numbering about 2,000, are settled in suburbs of north-western and southern Minsk. Throughout its history Minsk has been
2438-662: The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). First mentioned in 1067, Minsk became the capital of the Principality of Minsk , an appanage of the Principality of Polotsk , before being annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1242. It received town privileges in 1499. From 1569, it was the capital of Minsk Voivodeship , an administrative division of
2544-462: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland entered into a union. Minsk became the centre of Minsk Voivodship (province). In 1441, as Grand Duke of Lithuania , Casimir IV included Minsk in a list of cities enjoying certain privileges, and in 1499, during the reign of his son, Alexander I Jagiellon , Minsk received town privileges under Magdeburg law . In 1569, after the Union of Lublin ,
2650-815: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland merged into a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . By the middle of the 16th century, Minsk was an important economic and cultural centre in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was also an important centre for the Eastern Orthodox Church . Following the Union of Brest , both the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Roman Catholic Church increased in influence. In 1655, Minsk
2756-658: The Kiev Governorate , to a Jewish merchant father, Osip, and a Swedish mother. Sergei Eisenstein's father had converted to the Russian Orthodox Church , while his mother, Julia Ivanovna Konetskaya, came from a Russian Orthodox family. She was the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Julia left Riga in the year of the 1905 Russian Revolution , taking Sergei with her to Saint Petersburg . Her son would return at times to see his father, who joined them around 1910. Divorce followed, and Julia left
2862-554: The Minsk Metro opening in 2020. More development is planned for several areas outside the city centre, while the future of the older neighborhoods is still unclear. Minsk is located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, a region of rolling hills running from the southwest (upper reaches of the river Nioman ) to the northeast – that is, to Lukomskaye Lake in northwestern Belarus . The average altitude above sea level
2968-817: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was part of the territories annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland . From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution , Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic , which became a republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Minsk became
3074-1006: The Red Army to participate in the Russian Civil War , although his father Mikhail supported the opposite side. This brought his father to Germany after the defeat of the anti-Bolshevik forces, and Sergei to Petrograd, Vologda , and Dvinsk . In 1920, Sergei was transferred to a command position in Minsk , after success providing propaganda for the October Revolution . At this time, he was exposed to Kabuki theatre and studied Japanese , learning some 300 kanji characters, which he cited as an influence on his pictorial development. Eisenstein moved to Moscow in 1920, and began his career in theatre working for Proletkult , an experimental Soviet artistic institution which aspired to radically modify existing artistic forms and create
3180-772: The Second World War , Minsk had a population of 300,000 people. The Germans captured Minsk in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk , as part of Operation Barbarossa ; after it had been devastated by the Luftwaffe . However, some factories, museums, and tens of thousands of civilians had been evacuated to the east. The Germans designated Minsk the administrative centre of Generalbezirk Weißruthenien . Communists and sympathisers were killed or imprisoned, both locally and after being transported to Germany. Homes were requisitioned to house invading German forces. Thousands starved as food
3286-674: The Soviet partisan resistance movement against the invasion, in what is known as the German-Soviet War . For this role, Minsk was awarded the title Hero City in 1974. Minsk was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944 in Minsk Offensive as part of Operation Bagration . The city was the centre of German resistance to the Soviet advance and saw heavy fighting during the first half of 1944. Factories, municipal buildings, power stations , bridges, most roads, and 80% of
Native Land - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-642: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , German forces occupied Minsk on 21 February 1918. On 25 March 1918, Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belarusian People's Republic . The republic was short-lived; in December 1918, Minsk was taken over by the Red Army . In January 1919 Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Byelorussian SSR , though later in 1919 (see Operation Minsk ) and again in 1920,
3498-609: The influence of Russian this form also became official in Belarusian. The direct continuation of the name in Belarusian is Miensk ( Менск , IPA: [ˈmʲɛnsk] ), which some Belarusian-speakers continue to use as their preferred name for the city. When Belarus was under Polish rule, the names Mińsk Litewski ("Minsk of Lithuania ") and Mińsk Białoruski ("Minsk of Belarus") were used to differentiate this place name from Mińsk Mazowiecki 'Minsk in Masovia '. In modern Polish, Mińsk without an attribute usually refers to
3604-511: The 11th-greatest film of all time. Sergei Eisenstein was born on 22 January [ O.S. 10 January] 1898 in Riga , in the Governorate of Livonia , Russian Empire (present-day Latvia), to a middle-class family. His family moved frequently in his early years, as Eisenstein continued to do throughout his life. His father, the architect Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein , was born in
3710-738: The 1880s and 1930s, many Jews, as well as peasants from other backgrounds, emigrated from the city to the United States as part of a Belarusian diaspora . The high mortality of the First World War and the Second World War affected the demographics of the city, particularly the destruction of Jews under the Nazi occupation of the Second World War. Working through local populations, Germans instituted deportation of Jewish citizens to concentration camps, murdering most of them there. The Jewish community of Minsk suffered catastrophic losses in
3816-404: The 1890s, especially among the intelligentsia . In the 1920s and early 1930s Belarusian was the major language of Minsk, including use for administration and education (both secondary and tertiary). However, since the late 1930s Russian again began gaining dominance. A short period of Belarusian national revival in the early 1990s saw a rise in the numbers of Belarusian speakers. However, in 1994
3922-639: The 1960s and 1970s changed the ethnic composition further. By 1979 Belarusians made up 68.4% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.2%), Jews (3.4%), Ukrainians (3.4%), Poles (1.2%) and Tatars (0.2%). According to the 1989 census, 82% percent of Minsk residents have been born in Belarus. Of those, 43% have been born in Minsk and 39% – in other parts of Belarus. 6.2% of Minsk residents came from regions of western Belarus (Grodno and Brest Regions) and 13% – from eastern Belarus (Mogilev, Vitebsk and Gomel Regions). 21.4% of residents came from central Belarus (Minsk Region). According to
4028-440: The 1990s, after the fall of Communism, the city continued to change. As the capital of a newly independent country, Minsk quickly acquired the attributes of a major city. Embassies were opened, and a number of Soviet administrative buildings became government centres. During the early and mid-1990s, Minsk was hit by an economic crisis and many development projects were halted, resulting in high unemployment and underemployment. Since
4134-454: The 1999 census, Belarusians make up 79.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups include Russians (15.7%), Ukrainians (2.4%), Poles (1.1%) and Jews (0.6%). The Russian and Ukrainian populations of Minsk peaked in the late 1980s (at 325,000 and 55,000 respectively). After the break-up of the Soviet Union many of them chose to move to their respective mother countries, although some families had been in Minsk for generations. Another factor in
4240-749: The 20th century, Minsk was a major centre for the worker's movement in Belarus. The 1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , the forerunner to the Bolsheviks and eventually the CPSU , was held there in 1898. It was also one of the major centres of the Belarusian national revival , alongside Vilnius . However, the First World War significantly affected the development of Minsk. By 1915, Minsk
4346-470: The American border, a customs search of his trunk revealed sketches and drawings by Eisenstein of Jesus caricatures amongst other lewd pornographic material, which Eisenstein had added to his luggage without Kimbrough's knowledge. His re-entry visa had expired, and Sinclair's contacts in Washington were unable to secure him an additional extension. Eisenstein, Aleksandrov, and Tisse were allowed, after
Native Land - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-509: The Emergence of U.S. Radical Film Culture . Filming was not accomplished in the 3–4 months agreed to in Eisenstein's contract, however, and the Trust was running out of money; and his prolonged absence from the USSR led Joseph Stalin to send a telegram to Sinclair expressing the concern that Eisenstein had become a deserter. Under pressure, Eisenstein blamed Mary Sinclair's younger brother, Hunter Kimbrough, who had been sent along to act as
4558-682: The Hall of the Cinema Workers before being cremated on 13 February, and his ashes were buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Eisenstein was among the earliest film theorists. He briefly attended the film school established by Lev Kuleshov and the two were both fascinated with the power of editing to generate meaning and elicit emotion. Their individual writings and films are the foundations upon which Soviet montage theory
4664-463: The Holocaust . From more than half the population of the city, the percentage of Jews dropped to less than 10% more than ten years after the war. After its limited population peaked in the 1970s, continuing anti-Semitism under the Soviet Union and increasing nationalism in Belarus caused most Jews to emigrate to Israel and western countries in the 1980s; by 1999, less than 1% of the population of Minsk
4770-581: The Moscow- Warsaw road was laid through Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava ( Liepāja ) was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and
4876-641: The Polish journalist Waclaw Solski, "I'm not interested in girls" and burst out laughing, then quickly stopped and turned red with embarrassment. Recalling the incident, Solski wrote "Not until later, when I learned what everyone in Moscow knew, did Aleksandrov's odd behaviour become understandable." Upton Sinclair came to the same conclusion after the discovery of Eisenstein's pornographic drawings by customs officials. He later told Marie Seton: "All his associates were Trotskyites, and all homos ... Men of that sort stick together." Seven months after homosexuality became
4982-514: The Soviet film industry, called a halt to the filming and cancelled further production. What appeared to save Eisenstein's career at this point was that Stalin ended up taking the position that the Bezhin Meadow catastrophe, along with several other problems facing the industry at that point, had less to do with Eisenstein's approach to filmmaking as with the executives who were supposed to have been supervising him. Ultimately this came down on
5088-572: The Sun , released in 1940. He would publicly maintain that he had lost all interest in the project. In 1978, Gregori Aleksandrov released – with the same name in contravention to the copyright – his own version, which was awarded the Honorable Golden Prize at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival in 1979. Later, in 1998, Oleg Kovalov edited a free version of the film, calling it "Mexican Fantasy". Eisenstein's failure in Mexico took
5194-555: The Terrible, Part III was confiscated by the Soviet authorities whilst the film was still incomplete, and most of it was destroyed, though several filmed scenes exist. There have been debates about Eisenstein's sexuality, with a film covering Eisenstein's homosexuality running into difficulties in Russia. Almost all of his contemporaries believed that Eisenstein was gay. During a 1925 interview, Aleksandrov witnessed Eisenstein tell
5300-483: The US, and Germany. Today only about 10,000 Jews live in Minsk. The traditional minorities of Poles and Tatars have remained at much the same size (17,000 and 3,000 respectively). Rural Poles have migrated from the western part of Belarus to Minsk, and many Tatars have moved to Minsk from Tatarstan . Some more recent ethnic minority communities have developed as a result of immigration. The most prominent are immigrants from
5406-548: The army of Peter the Great . The last decades of the Polish rule involved decline or very slow development, since Minsk had become a small provincial town of little economic or military significance. Minsk was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland . In 1796, it became the centre of the Minsk Governorate . All of the initial street names were replaced by Russian names, though
SECTION 50
#17327730796515512-432: The autumn of 1928, with October still under fire in many Soviet quarters, Eisenstein left the Soviet Union for a tour of Europe, accompanied by his perennial film collaborator Grigori Aleksandrov and cinematographer Eduard Tisse . Officially, the trip was supposed to allow the three to learn about sound motion pictures and to present themselves as Soviet artists in person to the capitalist West. For Eisenstein, however, it
5618-403: The capital of the newly independent Republic of Belarus. The Old East Slavic name of the town was Мѣньскъ (i.e. Měnsk < Early Proto-Slavic or Late Indo-European Mēnĭskŭ ), derived from a river name Měn (< Mēnŭ ). The resulting form of the name, Minsk (spelled either Минскъ or Мѣнскъ), was taken over both in Russian (modern spelling: Минск) and Polish ( Mińsk ), and under
5724-688: The character of Jean-Jacques Dessalines , replaying his movements, actions, and the drama surrounding him. Further to the didactics of literary and dramatic content, Eisenstein taught the technicalities of directing, photography, and editing, while encouraging his students' development of individuality, expressiveness, and creativity. Eisenstein's pedagogy, like his films, was politically charged and contained quotes from Vladimir Lenin interwoven with his teaching. In his initial films, Eisenstein did not use professional actors. His narratives eschewed individual characters and addressed broad social issues, especially class conflict . He used groups as characters, and
5830-487: The city in Belarus, which is about 50 times bigger than Mińsk Mazowiecki; (cf. Brest-Litovsk and Brześć Kujawski for a similar case). The Svislach River valley was the settlement boundary between two early East Slavic tribes – the Krivichs and Dregovichs . By 980, the area was incorporated into the early medieval Principality of Polotsk , one of the earliest East Slavic principalities of Kievan Rus' . Minsk
5936-775: The city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic during the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War between 8 August 1919 and 11 July 1920 and again between 14 October 1920 and 19 March 1921. Under the terms of the Peace of Riga , Minsk was handed back to the Russian SFSR and became the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, one of the founding republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . A programme of reconstruction and development
6042-521: The city's culture as had the Poles in the earlier centuries. At the time of the 1897 census under the Russian Empire, Jews were the largest ethnic group in Minsk, at 52% of the population, with 47,500 of the 91,000 residents. Other substantial ethnic groups were Russians (25.5%), Poles (11.4%) and Belarusians (9%). The latter figure may be not accurate, as some local Belarusians were likely counted as Russians. A small traditional community of Lipka Tatars had been living in Minsk for centuries. Between
6148-486: The cold period of the year (as snow or rain) and two-thirds during the warm period. Throughout the year, winds are generally westerly or northwesterly, bringing cool and moist air from the Atlantic. The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Centre of Radioactive and Environmental Control. During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons . The change from gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened
6254-491: The curricula for the directors' course; his classroom illustrations are reproduced in Vladimir Nizhniĭ's Lessons with Eisenstein . Exercises and examples for students were based on rendering literature such as Honoré de Balzac 's Le Père Goriot . Another hypothetical was the staging of the Haitian struggle for independence as depicted in Anatolii Vinogradov's The Black Consul , influenced as well by John Vandercook's Black Majesty . Lessons from this scenario delved into
6360-488: The ecological situation. However, the majority of overall air pollution is produced by cars. Belarusian traffic police DAI every year hold operation "Clean Air" to prevent the use of cars with extremely polluting engines. Sometimes the maximum normative concentration of formaldehyde and ammonia in air is exceeded in Zavodski District . Other major contaminants are Chromium -VI and nitrogen dioxide . Zavodski, Partyzanski and Leninski districts, which are located in
6466-427: The family to live in France. Eisenstein was raised as an Orthodox Christian, but later became an atheist. Among the films that influenced Eisenstein as a child was The Consequences of Feminism (1906) by the first female filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché . At the Petrograd Institute of Civil Engineering, Eisenstein studied architecture and engineering, the profession of his father. In 1918, he left school and joined
SECTION 60
#17327730796516572-614: The film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive , funded by the Packard Humanities Institute . The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.” The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011 and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver. Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (22 January [ O.S. 10 January] 1898 – 11 February 1948)
6678-403: The films on structural issues such as camera angles, crowd movements, and montage brought him and like-minded others such as Vsevolod Pudovkin and Alexander Dovzhenko under fire from the Soviet film community. This forced him to issue public articles of self-criticism and commitments to reform his cinematic visions to conform to the increasingly specific doctrines of socialist realism . In
6784-422: The first local newspaper, Minskiye gubernskiye vedomosti ("Minsk province news") went into circulation. The first theatre was established in 1844. By 1860, Minsk was an important trading city with a population of 27,000. There was a construction boom that led to the building of two- and three-story brick and stone houses in Upper Town . Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846,
6890-408: The first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and a mosque. According to the 1897 Russian census , the city had 91,494 inhabitants, with some 47,561 Jews constituting more than half of the city population. In the early years of
6996-500: The houses were reduced to rubble. In 1944, Minsk's population was reduced to a mere 50,000. The historical centre was replaced in the 1940s and 1950s by Stalinist architecture , which favoured grand buildings, broad avenues and wide squares. Subsequently, the city grew rapidly as a result of massive industrialisation. Since the 1960s Minsk's population has also grown apace, reaching 1 million in 1972 and 1.5 million in 1986. Construction of Minsk Metro began on 16 June 1977, and
7102-404: The late 1990s, there have been improvements in transport and infrastructure, and a housing boom has been underway since 2002. On the outskirts of Minsk, new mikroraions of residential development have been built. Metro lines have been extended, and the road system (including the Minsk BeltWay ) has been improved. In recent years Minsk has been continuously decentralizing, with a third line of
7208-418: The major city in the former Principality of Polotsk. The princes of Minsk and Polotsk were engaged in years of struggle trying to unite all lands previously under the rule of Polotsk. Minsk escaped the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1237–1239. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania . It joined peacefully and local elites enjoyed high rank in the society of the Grand Duchy. In 1413,
7314-464: The miles of negative — at the Trust's expense — and distribute any resulting product. Two short feature films and a short subject — Thunder Over Mexico based on the "Maguey" footage, Eisenstein in Mexico , and Death Day respectively—were completed and released in the United States between the autumn of 1933 and early 1934. Eisenstein never saw any of the Sinclair-Lesser films, nor a later effort by his first biographer, Marie Seton , called Time in
7420-465: The montage as the constructing act par excellence at the base of every work of art: "the principle of segmentation of the object into different camera cuts" and the unification in a generalized or complete image is what we can call the peculiarity of montage as constructive process, which "leaves the event intact (the caught reality) and at the same time interprets it differently." Eisenstein taught film-making during his career at VGIK where he wrote
7526-441: The name is unknown but there are several theories. In the early 12th century, the Principality of Polotsk disintegrated into smaller fiefs. The Principality of Minsk was established by one of the Polotsk dynasty princes. In 1129, the Principality of Minsk was annexed by Kiev , the dominant principality of Kievan Rus' ; however in 1146 the Polotsk dynasty regained control of the principality. By 1150, Minsk rivalled Polotsk as
7632-456: The newly elected president Alexander Lukashenko slowly reversed this trend. Most residents of Minsk now use Russian exclusively in their everyday lives at home and at work, although Belarusian is understood as well. Substantial numbers of recent migrants from the rural areas use Trasyanka (a Russo-Belarusian mixed language) in their everyday lives. There are no reliable statistics on the religious affiliations of those living in Minsk, or among
7738-550: The northwestern edge of city lies large Zaslawskaye reservoir , often called the Minsk sea. It is the second largest reservoir in Belarus, constructed in 1956. Minsk has a warm summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ), although its weather is oftentimes unpredictable, given its location between the strong influence of the moist air over the Atlantic Ocean and the dry air over the Eurasian landmass. Its weather
7844-612: The number of corruption crimes grew by 36% in 2009 alone. Crime detection level varies from 13% in burglary to 92% in homicide with an average 40.1%. Many citizens are concerned for their safety at night and the strongest concern was expressed by residents of Chizhovka and Shabany microdistricts (both in Zavodski District ). The SIZO-1 detention center, IK-1 general prison, and the KGB special jail called " Amerikanka " are all located in Minsk. Alexander Lukashenko 's rivals in
7950-614: The opportunity to make a film in the United States. He accepted a short-term contract for $ 100,000 ($ 1,500,000 in 2017 dollars) and arrived in Hollywood in May 1930, along with Aleksandrov and Tisse. Eisenstein proposed a biography of arms dealer Basil Zaharoff and a film version of Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw , and more fully developed plans for a film of Sutter's Gold by Blaise Cendrars , but on all accounts failed to impress
8056-415: The outbreak of war with Germany in 1941, Alexander Nevsky was re-released with a wide distribution and earned international success. With the war approaching Moscow, Eisenstein was one of many filmmakers evacuated to Alma-Ata , where he first considered the idea of making a film about Tsar Ivan IV . Eisenstein corresponded with Prokofiev from Alma-Ata, and was joined by him there in 1942. Prokofiev composed
8162-512: The population of Belarus generally. The majority of Christians belong to the Belarusian Orthodox Church , which is the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. There is a significant minority of Roman Catholics . As of 2006, there are approximately 30 religious communities of various denominations in Minsk. The only functioning monastery in the city is St Elisabeth Convent ; its large complex of churches
8268-435: The property of Mrs. Sinclair..." A codicil to the contract allowed that the "Soviet Government may have the [finished] film free for showing inside the U.S.S.R." Reportedly, it was verbally clarified that the expectation was for a finished film of about an hour's duration. By 4 December, Eisenstein was traveling to Mexico by train, accompanied by Aleksandrov and Tisse, and also by Mrs. Sinclair's brother, Hunter Kimbrough ,
8374-483: The rest of the world. Eisenstein kept sketchbooks throughout his life. After his death, his widow, Pera Atasheva , gave most of them to the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI) – but withheld over 500 erotic drawings from the donation. She later passed these drawings to Andrei Moskvin for safekeeping, and after perestroika Moskvin's heirs sold them abroad. The erotic drawings have been
8480-432: The retail trade and as craftsmen, as other opportunities were prohibited by discrimination laws). During the last centuries of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , many Minsk residents became polonised , adopting the language of the dominant Poles and assimilating to its culture. After the second partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1793, Minsk and its larger region became part of the Russian Empire . The Russians dominated
8586-407: The roles were filled with untrained people from the appropriate classes; he avoided casting stars . Like many Bolshevik artists, Eisenstein envisioned a new society which would subsidize artists, freeing them from the confines of capitalism, leaving them absolutely free to create, but due to the material conditions at the time, budgets and producers were as significant to the Soviet film industry as
8692-519: The score for Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible and Eisenstein reciprocated by designing sets for an operatic rendition of War and Peace that Prokofiev was developing. Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible , Part I , presenting Ivan IV of Russia as a national hero, won Stalin's approval (and a Stalin Prize ), but the sequel, Ivan the Terrible, Part II , was criticized by various authorities and went unreleased until 1958. All footage from Ivan
8798-424: The security forces. The protesters put flowers at the site where he was detained before succumbing to his injuries. Minsk is the economic capital of Belarus. It has developed industrial and services sectors which serve the needs not only of the city, but of the entire nation. Minsk's contributions form nearly 46% of Belarusian budget. According to 2010 results, Minsk paid 15 trillion BYR to state budget while
8904-410: The shifting demographics of the city was the changing self-identification of Minsk residents of mixed ancestry – in independent Belarus they identify as Belarusians. The Jewish population of Minsk peaked in the early 1970s at 50,000 according to official figures; independent estimates put the figure at between 100,000 and 120,000. Beginning in the 1980s, there has been mass-scale emigration to Israel,
9010-491: The shoulders of Shumyatsky, who in early 1938 was denounced, arrested, tried and convicted as a traitor, and shot. Eisenstein was able to ingratiate himself with Stalin for 'one more chance', and he chose, from two offerings, the assignment of a biopic of Alexander Nevsky and his victory at the Battle of the Ice , with music composed by Sergei Prokofiev . This time, he was assigned a co-scenarist, Pyotr Pavlenko , to bring in
9116-409: The southeastern part of Minsk, are the most polluted areas in the city. During its first centuries, Minsk was a city with a predominantly Early East Slavic population (the forefathers of modern-day Belarusians ). After the 1569 Polish–Lithuanian union , the city became a destination for migrating Poles (who worked as administrators, clergy, teachers and soldiers) and Jews ( Ashkenazim , who worked in
9222-463: The spelling of the city's name remained unchanged. It was briefly occupied by the Grande Armée during French invasion of Russia in 1812. Throughout the 19th century, the city continued to grow and significantly improve. In the 1830s, major streets and squares of Minsk were cobbled and paved. A first public library was opened in 1836, and a fire brigade was put into operation in 1837. In 1838,
9328-514: The studio's producers. Paramount proposed a film version of Theodore Dreiser 's An American Tragedy . This excited Eisenstein, who had read and liked the work, and had met Dreiser at one time in Moscow. Eisenstein completed a script by the start of October 1930, but Paramount disliked it and, additionally, they found themselves attacked by Major Pease , president of the Hollywood Technical Director's Institute. Pease,
9434-607: The subject of several exhibitions since the late 1990s. Some are reproduced in Joan Neuberger's essay "Strange Circus: Eisenstein's Sex Drawings." In 2023, artist William Kentridge included a drawing of Eisenstein in his solo museum exhibition at The Broad in Los Angeles . On January 22, 2018, Google celebrated his 120th birthday with a Google Doodle . Minsk Minsk ( Belarusian : Мінск [mʲinsk] ; Russian : Минск [mʲinsk] )
9540-526: The system was opened to the public on 30 June 1984, becoming the ninth metro system in the Soviet Union. The rapid population growth was primarily driven by mass migration of young, unskilled workers from rural areas of Belarus, as well as by migration of skilled workers from other parts of the Soviet Union . To house the expanding population, Minsk spread beyond its historical boundaries. Its surrounding villages were absorbed and rebuilt as mikroraions , districts of high-density apartment housing. Throughout
9646-464: The three Soviets to see what they could do with the film already shot; estimates of the extent of this range from 170,000 lineal feet with Soldadera unfilmed, to an excess of 250,000 lineal feet. For the unfinished filming of the "novel" of Soldadera , without incurring any cost, Eisenstein had secured 500 soldiers, 10,000 guns, and 50 cannons from the Mexican Army. When Kimbrough arrived at
9752-589: The whole income from all other regions was 20 trillion BYR. In the period January 2013 to October 2013, 70.6% of taxes in the budget of Minsk were paid by non-state enterprises, 26.3% by state enterprises, and 1.8% by individual entrepreneurs. Among the top 10 taxpayers were five oil and gas companies (including two Gazprom 's and one Lukoil 's subsidiaries), two mobile network operators ( MTS and A1 ), two companies producing alcoholic beverages (Minsk-Kristall and Minsk grape wines factory) and one producer of tobacco goods. In 2012, Gross Regional Product of Minsk
9858-420: The whole point is that I have never experienced a homosexual attraction, even towards Grisha , despite the fact I have some bisexual tendency in the intellectual dimension like, for example, Balzac or Zola ." Eisenstein suffered a heart attack on 2 February 1946, and spent much of the following year recovering. He died of a second heart attack on 11 February 1948, at the age of 50. His body lay in state in
9964-512: Was Eisenstein's first full-length feature film. Battleship Potemkin (also 1925) was critically acclaimed worldwide. Mostly owing to this international renown, he was then able to direct October: Ten Days That Shook the World , as part of a grand tenth anniversary celebration of the October Revolution of 1917, and then The General Line (also known as Old and New ). While critics outside Soviet Russia praised these works, Eisenstein's focus in
10070-569: Was Jewish. In the first three decades of the post-war years, the most numerous new residents in Minsk were rural migrants from other parts of Belarus; the proportion of ethnic Belarusians increased markedly. Numerous skilled Russians and other migrants from other parts of the Soviet Union migrated for jobs in the growing manufacturing sector. In 1959 Belarusians made up 63.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.8%), Jews (7.8%), Ukrainians (3.6%), Poles (1.1%) and Tatars (0.4%). Continued migration from rural Belarus in
10176-459: Was a Soviet film director , screenwriter , film editor and film theorist . He was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage . He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1945/1958). In its 2012 decennial poll, the magazine Sight & Sound named his Battleship Potemkin
10282-550: Was a battlefront city. Some factories were closed down, and residents began evacuating to the east. Minsk became the headquarters of the Western Front of the Russian army and also housed military hospitals and military supply bases. The Russian Revolution had an immediate effect in Minsk. A Workers' Soviet was established in Minsk in October 1917, drawing much of its support from disaffected soldiers and workers. After
10388-535: Was an opportunity to see landscapes and cultures outside the Soviet Union. He spent the next two years touring and lecturing in Berlin , Zürich , London, and Paris. In 1929, in Switzerland, Eisenstein supervised an educational documentary about abortion directed by Tisse, entitled Frauennot – Frauenglück . In late April 1930, film producer Jesse L. Lasky , on behalf of Paramount Pictures , offered Eisenstein
10494-472: Was assigned another project, Bezhin Meadow , but it appears the film was afflicted with many of the same problems as ¡Que viva México! . Eisenstein unilaterally decided to film two versions of the scenario, one for adult viewers and one for children; failed to define a clear shooting schedule; and shot film prodigiously, resulting in cost overruns and missed deadlines. Boris Shumyatsky , the de facto head of
10600-450: Was begun in 1922. By 1924, there were 29 factories in operation; schools, museums, theatres and libraries were also established. Throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, Minsk saw rapid development with dozens of new factories being built and new schools, colleges, higher education establishments, hospitals, theatres and cinemas being opened. During this period, Minsk was also a centre for the development of Belarusian language and culture. Before
10706-409: Was built, but they differed markedly in their understanding of its fundamental principles. Eisenstein's articles and books—particularly Film Form and The Film Sense —explain the significance of montage in detail. His writings and films have continued to have a major impact on subsequent filmmakers. Eisenstein believed that editing could be used for more than just expounding a scene or moment, through
10812-576: Was conquered by troops of Tsar Alexei of Russia. Russians governed the city until 1660 when it was regained by John II Casimir , Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. By the end of the Polish-Russian War , Minsk had only about 2,000 residents and just 300 houses. The second wave of devastation occurred during the Great Northern War , when Minsk was occupied in 1708 and 1709 by the army of Charles XII of Sweden and then by
10918-459: Was decided on some time later still. While in Mexico, he mixed socially with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera ; Eisenstein admired these artists and Mexican culture in general, and they inspired him to call his films "moving frescoes". The left-wing U.S. film community eagerly followed his progress within Mexico, as is chronicled within Chris Robe's book Left of Hollywood: Cinema, Modernism, and
11024-550: Was first mentioned in the name form Měneskъ (Мѣнескъ) in the Primary Chronicle for the year 1067 in association with the Battle on the River Nemiga . 1067 is now widely accepted as the founding year of Minsk. City authorities consider the date of 3 March 1067 to be the exact founding date of the city, though the town (by then fortified by wooden walls) had certainly existed for some time by then. The origin of
11130-409: Was formed mainly by industry (26.4%), wholesale (19.9%), transportation and communications (12.3%), retail (8.6%) and construction (5.8%). GRP of Minsk measured in Belarusian rubles was 55 billion (€20 billion) or around 1/3 of Gross domestic product of Belarus. Minsk city has highest salaries in Belarus. As of December 2023 average gross salary in Minsk was 3,240 BYN per month (~ US$ 1,000). Minsk
11236-522: Was seized by the German Army and paid work was scarce. Minsk was the site of one of the largest Nazi-run ghettos in the Second World War, temporarily housing over 100,000 Jews (see Minsk Ghetto ). Some anti-Soviet residents of Minsk, who hoped that Belarus could regain independence, did support the Germans, especially at the beginning of the occupation, but by 1942, Minsk had become a major centre of
#650349